PR4-E

[RobinTheHood]

NAME:

PR4-E

Price:

$200

 

Purchased from

Guitar Center, Southfield, Mich

 

Features

Thinline Jumbo-style body with cutaway

Select Spruce top

Mahogany back and sides

Chrome hardware

25.5" scale

1.68" nut width

Rosewood fingerboard with "dot" inlays

Nut - Plastic

Epiphone die-cast tuners

Players Pack Includes:

Epiphone PR4-E Acoustic-electric guitar

Acoustic-15 amplifier with 15W, 3-band EQ and chorus

Gig bag

Pitch pipe

Guitar lesson DVD

Strap, picks and cable

 

Sound Quality

The PR4-E has a pretty typical sound for a thin-bodied, laminated guitar, which is a little on the thin side. Amplified, it has a much better sound, but still somewhat thin through the 15W Epiphone amplifier. But for a $200 Player Pack aimed at beginners, this is pretty much expected.

 

Fit and Finish.

The fit and finish are actually really good on this guitar. The tuners work as expected and the action is nice and low - almost "electric guitar" low. It comes with light guage strings and small frets which only add to the "electric" feel of the neck. The guitar has body and neck binding which is a plus for this level of guitar. Everything worked perfectly and was set up well "out of the box". Not much else to say as it is a fairly basic A/E guitar.

 

Impressions

I bought this guitar because I was looking for a thin-bodied jumbo with "electric guitar" playability, and the PR4-E is exactly that. Easy on the eyes and the fingers, what the PR4-E lacks in tone, it makes up for in playability. This would be a great guitar for a beginner for this reason alone. Its so easy to play, it keeps bringing you back to it. However, for intermediate or gigging musicians, I would not reccomend this guitar as a daily player. Although it is well build and solidly constructed, the light strings and small frets may prove to be less than optimal in a gigging environment over time. The PR4-E would most likley not hold up to regular or extensive gigging or abusive situations. But it really wasnt built for that purpose. I really like my PR4-E and am happy I chose it over others I was looking at. It does everything I need it to and would reccomend it to anyone that didnt expect more out of it than it can deliver.

 

The amplifier seems to sound ok, but I havent really played with it that much. It seems better than other electric and bass amps I've played with the same wattage. The amp looks like a tube amp with the controls on the top/rear and pointer knobs, but is solid state all the way. It also has two channels and chorus. This is definitely a bedroom amplifier, but I would give it a go at a coffee house or small open mic environment. Again, this amp is better quality than you might expect from something this size, but just dont expect more than it can deliver.

 

It also came with a gigbag, strap and some other things that Guitar Center decided to pilfer from the box. The strap is a cheap nylon and the gigbag is probably the worst gigbag I have ever laid eyes on. There is no padding and one of the zippers broke the first time I used it. This case offers zero protection from anything other than dust.

 

 

[animalfarm]

It also came with a gigbag, strap and some other things that Guitar Center decided to pilfer from the box.

The strap is a cheap nylon and the gigbag is probably the worst gigbag I have ever laid eyes on.

There is no padding and one of the zippers broke the first time I used it. This case offers zero

protection from anything other than dust.

 

 

 

BRUTAL HONESTY is also GOOD in a review!!!!!!

If it s#cks, it s#cks! Thank you - obviously, we can't like

EVERY thing we get, eh?

[RaSTuS]

+1

 

Yet another great review Rob, you're doing a great job to help bolster the new Review sticky with content, well done mate.

[RobinTheHood]

BRUTAL HONESTY is also GOOD in a review!!!!!!

If it s#cks, it s#cks! Thank you - obviously, we can't like

EVERY thing we get, eh?

The guitar and amp are great for what they are. The case is not so great. But thats the point of a review, eh? Considering that this whole package is only $200, its obvious that the case is a gimme...and thats fine. But someone buying this outfit shouldnt be disappointed when they find out the case is pretty terrible. It is basically free, after all.

[milod]

I had one, dropped on even lighter strings (9-42 Zebra AE strings) and played it for a benefit gig, etc.

 

No need or use for the amp, so when MF had a "condition 4" because of a bad amp, I got the thing for $85 bucks. I ended up swapping it, but I had good vibes from it.

 

I considered it a parlor guitar. Electrified it sounded pretty decent. Unamplified with the light strings it reminded me of some of the old guys playing cheap guitars when I was a kid in the early 1950s.

 

Fingerpicked only, frankly I think it did as well as about any parlor guitar with the shape and size. I don't think I'd personally consider it as a flatpicking guitar at all, although the comment about it being a beginner's acoustic that plays more or less like an electric is correct.

 

The cheapie cord wasn't much. The electronic tuner was awfully flimsy to give to a kid. The gig bag was tight and light, as mentioned, but then I didn't expect much protection and lived in the era when "he carried his guitar in a gunny sack."

 

Would I buy another one for $100 or so without the amp? Absolutely.

 

I do wonder, though, if "adult beginner" and "parlor guitar regardless of skill level" might be one of the best ways to describe it. Frankly I think it's a super "haul to the neighbors barbecue" especially if you're a fingerpicker.

 

m

[bloozeguy]

My experience is exactly the opposite. I picked up the amp--mint cond.--minus the git at a ma-and-pa used guitar shop for $50. Cranked it up to practice and all was OK, both with my Dobro and Masterbilt. One of these days, I'll try it in a small room--I play weekly in one, but they have their own Fender Acoustosonic.

I had been toying with the idea of getting the pack and splitting it with my kid--he gets the guitar and accessories; I get the amp. He lost interest, so I was glad to find the amp by itself, in good condition, and to be able to beat the price down from $69. Wife didn't even get mad(der)!

I'll let y'all know how it works if I ever play out with it. For $50, happy for now!

And, yes, indeed, many thanks for these reviews!

[milod]

My understanding is that the amp is designed for a mike in one channel and the guitar in the other.

 

Overall, seriously, I think this is a "best buy" not matter how you look at it. It ain't a high end Gibbie, or even anywhere close to a high end Epi - but it's a nice bit that works quite well for the money.

 

m

[RobinTheHood]

Yeah, I really like mine. Its perfect for what I do, which is plink around at home and practicing. I gigged with it a few times and it sounded just fine through my GK bass rig. lol. Our singer/songwriter/guitarist plays a lot of small venue solo gigs and is considering giving the amp a go the next time he plays a venue without much of a sound system. I'll have to put up an addendum to the review if/when this happens.

[milod]

I don't know the amp, but my 30-watt Kustom AE amp works rather well in a small venue if it's at least bar stool height or slightly above. That's regardless what kinda music you're playing and even with a drummer.

 

My guess is that the smaller speakers wouldn't do so well, not to mention the lesser power but... who knows, for a solo acoustic gig? Could be.

 

m

[RobinTheHood]

I don't know the amp, but my 30-watt Kustom AE amp works rather well in a small venue if it's at least bar stool height or slightly above. That's regardless what kinda music you're playing and even with a drummer.

 

My guess is that the smaller speakers wouldn't do so well, not to mention the lesser power but... who knows, for a solo acoustic gig? Could be.

 

m

In a small bar gig, no. It wouldnt work. But for a small coffehouse type venue or some of the very small intimate setting stuff he does, it just may be enough. Of course, not with a mic plugged in to the XLR at the same time. I think that would be too much for the amp in almost any situation.

 

The included amp seems to be identical to this ARTEC A15C

 

Yeah, Pete. That looks to be the exact same amp except for the black hardware instead of chrome.

[milod]

Nowadays the place is a legend, but when I'd go to the Club 47 Mt. Auburn in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Mass., my recollection is that the PA was always horrid. It was a folkie mecca in the early 1960s, but...

 

I think we're generally lucky that we all expect a bit better than those days. But sometimes I think especially we solo guitar pickers in general think too much about guitars and amps and not enough about what the audience hears.

 

But ditto even electric band players.

 

This past weekend's experience was enlightening. No sound check, nothing; plugged in the PR5e and moved up to the mike and had at it. I was scared, but the PA guy did well enough on an inexpensive rig. The Brit video crew I was working with, and who knew I was trying out a "new" guitar, told me the guitar sounded the best of the day. And there were Gibsons, Taks, etc., among other cowboy songster types.

 

That really sealed my belief on PA being more important than other factors on how an audience, not the GAS-afflicted picker, perceives a performance.

 

m

[RobinTheHood]

Absolutely. It always sounds terrible to me on stage. What you hear and what the audience hears are two completely different things. A good sound guy is key. A good board helps too.

 

I'm thinking that his intentions for the A-15 is to play through it and mic it to the PA. It may not project or sound good in a bigger room on its own, but through a PA it just might sound decent. Especially if you're not pushing it too hard. At that point it could be a very good stage monitor for the guitar.

[milod]

RTH....

 

Yupper on all you wrote.

 

That little 30-watter of mine has been used as exactly that, a stage monitor, while I got piped through the PA.

 

If there's a line-out (???) it also can work well for recording. I run mine through a USB bridge into the computer - mike and guitar through the amp, then the line out, etc.

 

My latest purchase, though, was a cheapie MF PA package that should handle about anything I do in a venue that doesn't have a pro PA setup. It works well enough with guitar and a mike or two and... whatever I'm likely to use.

 

<grin> I'm old, but not unaffected by GAS.

 

m